Eat Your Way Across Long Island

Attention foodies: the most delicious time of year is coming. Long Island Restaurant Week returns for eight days beginning Nov. 1, and you better start making those reservations.

You know the drill. The annual fall restaurant week is the chance to enjoy a three-course prix fixe dinner for $27.95 at some of Long Island’s best restaurants. It’s the region’s most delicious bargain.

“Anytime we have an opportunity to showcase our talents and cuisine we welcome it with open arms,” Brian Curtin of Blackwells Restaurant at Great Rock Golf Club told Long Island Restaurant Week. “We end up serving many first time guests who fall in love with the place and then come back and become regulars.”

To help you find your soon to be regular spot, here are seven restaurants you must check out this Long Island Restaurant Week. Call for reservations now.

The Babylon Carriage House is a fun spot, serving great food. If you haven’t been, this place needs to be on your Long Island Restaurant Week to-do, maybe more than once. The Babylon Carriage House is offering one of the larger restaurant week menus. Try to choose between the gnocchi Bolognese, Thai calamari or pulled pork sliders to start and don’t forget to save room for dessert while you’re enjoying the marinated skirt steak, lobster ravioli or Maryland crab stuffed flounder.

Besito, Roslyn & Huntington

Long Island Restaurant Week is the perfect time to get your taco full at Besito.

Start with the tableside guacamole at one of the Island’s favorite Mexican spots, then try to pick between the more than 10 aperitivos that include queso fundido, tacos de pescado and much more deliciousness. Don’t forget to save room for the main dish though. Choose between tacos, enchiladas or even a roasted salmon with plantains, pineapple pico de gallo and mole manchamanteles.

This Babylon Italian eatery needs to be one of your Long Island Restaurant Week picks, especially if it’s date night. Enjoy classic Italian dishes in a beautiful setting sure to impress that special someone. Start with a sweet potato, apple, carrot and lentil soup or the vegetable risotto ball with roasted cherry tomato sauce and then choose between salmon, veal, pork and chicken dishes as the entrée, finishing with apple pie gelato or the crème brulé cheesecake.

Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas, Westbury

Fall in love with tapas at Spuntino during Long Island Restaurant Week

Discover why everyone loves tapas at Spuntino during Long Island Restaurant Week. Start with a choice of salad and then choose from various small plates and traditional Italian desserts that include gelato, chocolate chip zeppole and ciambelle aka homemade doughnuts with chocolate, Nutella or salted caramel dipping sauces.

Dig into hearty Italian at Carnival in Port Jefferson. Appetizers include a choice of fried calamari, baby eggplant and mussels marinara and the entrées are Italian staples such as pork chop, sea bass and chicken rollatini. I won’t make you too hungry with dessert but know that you’ll want it.

Vintage Prime Steak House, St. James

Savor fall during Long Island Restaurant Week. image: blackjake

The fall vibe is in full swing at Vintage Prime, where during restaurant week each course pays homage to the best of fall ingredients. We’re talking butternut squash soup with chives and cream cheese, porcini mushroom ravioli and a filet mignon with mashed potatoes, creamed spinach and crispy onion strings. The desserts: an apple cobbler or pumpkin cheesecake.

Caci North Fork Restaurant, Southold

Say ciao to Caci during Long Island Restaurant Week

Say ciao to pumpkin soup with sage and pancetta, house made tagliatelle and mixed greens with goat cheese, orange and fennel. For the main dish choose between authentic Italian dishes such as chicken scaloppini with white wine, or try the more modern grilled salmon or grilled pork chop. Toffee gelato, orange sorbet or chocolate profiterole with whipped cream round out their Long Island Restaurant Week menu.